Decisions, decisions...

...So what should we do?

We should go ahead and bypass the obvious today, because the fact of the matter is that if you're reading this right now, you already had an opinion before you even opened this. This is okay, because this particular post is specifically for you guys.

As much as we all may say we hate it, the drama of sports is half of sports. How boring would they be if there was no story, no hype? We all know full well that fans and analysts alike absolutely love adding fuel to the fire whenever possible. But these days, the athletes themselves, have become the ultimate fuel .

Personally, I absolutely love conflict. I love it because no matter what anyone says, everyone ALWAYS pays more attention when there is. Conflict creates motivation. Motivation in turn, creates stiffer competition. Stiffer competition ultimately brings out the best in all athletes. However, my love for conflict in sports ends when the conflict overwhelms the sport. And that, my Nosebleeders, is what we have here.

It's been a little over a week since LeBron and Nike aired their very blunt, and quite frankly very ballsy ad titled "What Should I do?" on national television. After airing "The Decision" in July, we all found it hard to believe that he could out-do himslef anymore. We were obviously mistaken.

I hate writers who take advantage of these situations just fill space in their columns. It's cheap writing, and it's cheap commentary. Writers like that, are what keep athletes like LeBron James famous. I'm not writing this post to add more fuel to fire, the way "King James" would like it; I speak about this now, because it has gotten to the point where we now need to question priorities. Question priorities not just of LeBron, but of ourselves as well. In order to do this analysis properly, I suppose it's only fair that we take a page out of the "Nike-LeBron Romance", and ask ourselves retorical questions...

Are we mad? Should we be mad? Is this a problem? Who's problem is it? How much is for show? How much is real? Who's playing who? Is it worth the attention? Is money talking more than a ring? Why do we watch? Why does he listen? Do we and LeBron look forward more to the press conferences more than the game?

You, personally, might of been able to answer those questions pretty quickly. They may of even seemed absured to you. But if most of us answered those honestly, I don't think it'd be so easy.

The ad was obviously straight-forward and possibly even offensive to some. But just days later, he publicly stated that he would of done "The Decision" differently. What do we make of that? Saying, not necessarily that the choice to leave Cleveland would be different, but how he went about making it. Does that mean he's excused? Apparantly not, because within days of the ad being launched, there were already spoofs going off right behind it. It started with ESPN's Michelle Beadle's light-hearted interpretation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ksR2M0afC5c . Then Comedy Central's South Park just had to dip their hands in, using it as a platform to shoot at BP (quite a comparison) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xoLB1d47O0 . The clincher came earlier today when an actual "Cleveland Answer" was created in accordance with the ad. This one's not so light-hearted, and they actually respond to his questions. See for yourself... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p8eFNcEFWSw .

While this is all entertaining, and honestly quite amusing, that's all it is anymore. This is nothing more than entertainment. To put it in perspective, I'm a fan of WWE wrestling. While they are athletes, they are primarily entertainers. LeBron James is turning the face of the NBA into entertainment. He no longer looks like the reigning MVP of the NBA, but more like the Don King of the NBA. I no longer think about basketball when I think about LeBron. He has now become better at hype and promotion than actual basketball. Everyone always questions my personal dislike for LeBron James, and this is precisely why. I'm absolutely tired of it. I understand business and I understand marketing, and advertsing as well. But when you go beyond publicly deciding to leave your hometown, to publicly calling out and antagonizing every critic and negative thought that's been made towards you, you dig your own grave.

I don't excuse Clevelands actions "post-decision", but this one is on LeBron, and I no longer have sympathy towards him in anyway whatsoever. He has now made it perfectly clear that he wants nothing more than to be the villain. Why? because we will all pay to watch the villain. Some actually swallowed the idea that he would do it differently now if he could go back; well that's cute, but it would mean a whole lot more if he hadn't already recieved his eight-digit check for doing the ad.

He wants to know what he should do?

...Shut up and play ball.